GREENSBORO — Five area wrestlers, including defending state champion Tyler Ross of Jacksonville, advanced Friday to the NCHSAA state championships during the second day of action Saturday at the Greensboro Coliseum.

Along with Ross making the 3-A finals at 126 pounds, Southwest’s Jody Armenta, a two-time state runner-up, and Dixon’s Tyler Hudson earned spots in the 1-A classification at 132 and 195 pounds.

Two Croatan wrestlers also earned trips to the 2-A state finals. Senior Alex Bray (120) and Kyle Colborn (195).

A total of 10 of the 38 area wrestlers who made the state championships advanced to the semifinals.

The state finals will begin after the Parade of Champions at 5 p.m.

Before that, consolation matches will be held in all four classifications, which will include a number of area wrestlers.

Ross (47-3) will take on Dalton McGalliard (46-11) of Freedom in the finals, looking to become the first wrestler in Jacksonville High School history to win two straight state titles. After pins in his first two matches, Ross beat Samuel Bartram of Union Pines 12-4 in the semifinals.

Meanwhile, Armenta, who finished second in the state as a freshman and sophomore, will battle East Wilkes’ Zack Prevette (51-2) while Hudson take on Spencer McCoy (42-4) of Robbinsonville for the gold medal.

Of all the area wrestlers to make it to the finals, Hudson had the longest road, beating Zach Faircloth of East Wilkes 6-5 in what coach Dal Tomlinson said was the equivalent of quadruple overtime.

“He scared me, but he wrestled well,” Tomlinson said.

Armenta advanced to the finals with a pin and then a 9-0 win over West Montgomery’s Matthew Harkins.

Bray (62-4) will take on Stephen Dreher (25-4) of Carrboro and Colborn (61-2) will meet Anthony Christopher (52-2) of Bandys in the finals.

Bray won his opening two matches with a tech fall and pin before edging Austin McMillian of North Surry 5-1 in the semifinals. Colborn won his first two matches on a pin and an 18-6 decision before pinning Jourdon Blackmon of Northwood at 2:56.

Also, Croatan heads into the final day of competition with a slim lead atop the team scoreboard. The Cougars have 78.5 points while Trinity is second with 75 points. Newton-Conover, which beat Croatan in the state dual team finals, is third with 72 points.

Orange leads the 3-A team title race with 97.5 points with Jacksonville tied for 17th with 26 points.

In the 1-A team race, Ayden-Grifton is first with 62 points while Southwest is seventh with 24 points. Dixon is tied for 14th with 16 points.

Area wrestling results from the double-elimination NCHSAA championships, which conclude today at the Greensboro Coliseum. Along with wrestlers who advanced to today’s finals, a number of area wrestlers are still alive in their consolation bracket: